Today’s Epistle comes from Paul’s Letter to the Colossians. It was probably written when he was in prison in Ephesus. He has never actually been to Colossae but the church has been planted as a result of the work of Epaphras, one of Paul’s converts. The introduction starts with the usual greeting before talking more specifically to the people at that church, much of which also applies to us. Paul makes it clear that he is supporting them in prayer – perhaps using the ‘opportunity’ offered by prison.

We too need to remember that being supported in prayer is crucial. We may be like Epaphras, running around and doing all that we feel is necessary but he, and us too, should feel reassured that there are others who for various reasons cannot be physically present in our to-ing and fro-ing. Instead they are holding us before God, so that we may receive strength and guidance from Him.

In verses 4 and 5 Paul speaks of the three essential attributes for the Christian life:

Which brings us on to the Gospel passage that we heard. As a child the story of the Good Samaritan was presented to me as an example about how one should behave if one called oneself a Christian. There was also a bit of ‘holier than thou’ thought about the Priest and the Levite, with even a bit of sneering towards the clergy.

But the story is not really an anti-clergy story at all. If the Priest and the Levite had attended to the man they would have been ritually unclean, and unable to do their jobs. That was what the Jewish Law said and as yet there was no alternative. What this story is really about is faith, hope, and most particularly love.

We do not know how badly injured the man was but I wonder what he thought as he saw the Samaritan approaching. Some fellow Jews had not been able to help him so why would he expect help from this quarter? But as the Samaritan approached he took pity on him and the man accepted his ministrations in good faith. Perhaps he was not in a state to do anything else but I am sure that he appreciated the help which included attention to his wounds.

Then he got on to the stranger’s donkey which took him to a local inn. They both stayed at the inn and the next day the Samaritan went off, promising that he would pay the inn keeper any remaining money that was owing, on his return. The kindly inn keeper agreed to this and so the man knew that he could stay at the inn until he had recovered sufficiently to return home. He could look to the future as his hope had been restored. And most importantly of all he had received love from this unknown man.

Generally the story of the Good Samaritan is looked upon as an example of how we should treat our neighbour and indeed it is clear from Jesus’ words that this was its prime intention. This way of dealing with a stranger in need is at the very heart of the Gospel. There is that well-known passage in Matthew when Jesus says this to those who have been judged to be ‘sheep’ ie a ‘good thing’, (although I am not sure why ‘goats’ were considered to be so bad, perhaps because they tend to go their own way rather than following the shepherd!):

And we all know that when the ‘sheep’ questioned this Jesus told them that whatever we do for others is ultimately about caring about God.

So we have this parable where someone whom the Jews would have considered quite beyond the pale is said to belong to the Kingdom of God because he has done many of the things listed by Jesus. We need to remember that Jesus welcomes anyone into His Kingdom who is prepared to accept God’s love and share it with others. We do not have the right to decide who that might be or to judge how appropriate anyone is. Of course we all know that but I think there is no harm in reminding ourselves that God’s ways can be very different from ours.

Now all of that is very interesting and I suspect not exactly new to you. However I wonder what the man who received such care and attention from the Good Samaritan felt about him. What did the he make of the experience? I am sure he spent quite a lot of time wondering why the Good Samaritan had done what he did. What was in it for him? It had cost him time and money, and he hadn’t even insisted on the man waiting for him to get back. He just seemed to care about what happened to him and to make sure he recovered from his nasty experience.
And this is of course an allegory for the experience that we have of God. Most of us probably feel we were doing pretty well before we accepted God into our lives. We may have had a loving family and a job and somewhere to live and enough to eat and yet there was something missing. Everyone’s story of coming to faith is different but I am sure that somewhere along the line we realised that there was something absent and in time we worked out that the something, or Someone, was God. We may have been going through a difficult time and someone, like the Good Samaritan, picked us up and helped us to get back on our feet again. When we talked to them a bit we found out about God and that got us thinking and so on and so forth.

I suspect that for many of us that first excitement and joy and delight of finding out that God loves us has cooled a little. The initial enthusiasm of learning more about Him, by spending time reading the Bible, or in prayer, or even going to Church, may have faded. And yet, as it says at the end of the Epistle reading:

God has been the Good Samaritan to each one of us, not just once, but over and over again. The Good Samaritan used his physical resources of time and money to care for the man, to help him to recover from his ordeal. God has rescued us from the power of darkness and taken us into His Kingdom. The Good Samaritan did what he could to help the man deal with someone else’s wrongdoing, God sent us His Son to show how we should live and treat others. The Good Samaritan did his bit by showing love and concern for the injured man he came across. God sent His Son to live as a man and learn at first hand about life on Earth, and to die to redeem us.

How can we ever begin to thank God for His extravagant love towards us? Fortunately He appreciates any and every effort that we make to turn back to Him. And in return He expects us to tell others about His love for them.

It is very fashionable to talk down the Anglican Church at the moment but as the State Church we have a wonderful opportunity to meet people in their need: sometimes in life events, such as weddings and funerals, at Carol Services and Flower Festivals, by leaving the church open for visitors looking for a quiet place to sit and think and pray. This is crucial stuff for mission and we need to make sure that we continue to meet people wherever they are and show them the love of God. For this to happen we must be committed to sharing the Gospel and this will take our time, our talents and money.

Many of you will know that I love using words of hymns to make us think about God. So perhaps it comes as no surprise that I end with these words by Isaac Watts, which perhaps make us think just how much God has done for us and how this deserves to be acknowledged:

Amen